Vegetables in Apartment

monosharp

Hey all,

I'm living in a city and I've got a 7th floor apartment. Theres one area where theres a large window and inside it there is an area where there was flowers growing when I moved in.

The area inside the window is about 8 foot long, 1 foot wide and 4 feet deep. Think a trough like structure.

Outside the window is another shelf type thing where I could potentially put some containers on.

Basically I would like to grow some kind of vegetables or herbs.

So ...

1. Is this enough space for ... well anything ? Would you bother ?

2. What would you recommend growing ? I was hoping I could grow small potatoes, tomatoes (if there was enough sun), onions etc.

Maybe some garlic ? Does garlic need a lot of sun/time ?

3. What are my best options for vegetables/herbs ? I'd like to have something growing all the time or at least I would like to make my small space productive.

Thanks very much.

p.s > I have removed the flowers from the aforementioned area but left the soil. Is there any need/reason to replace this soil or can I just shove some fertilizer into it ?

What I mean is, the soil is from the last occupant and I don't know what kind of chemicals etc she used on her flowers etc. Just checking if I need to change it.

emc2

Hi,

I have an apartment ( I am on the 4th floor) and have a balcony that seems to be a similar size to yours. I am growing loads of different veg for the first time this year. I have Potatoes, Cabbage, Carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, Strawberries and spring onions. It's amazing how much you can grow in a small space, my veg is mostly grown in window boxes but I have the potatoes and carrots in bags.

thanks
emc2

Hagar

Make sure the trough is properly set up to hold soil otherwise you, or your neighbour below, could be facing damp problems later on.

keiran110

The good news is that you wont experience any problems with common flight based pests such as greenfly, whitefly, carrot fly etc. This will be a HUGE advantage to you, trust me.
These small flies dont really dont fly up as high as your balcony.
In fact, carrotfly for example dont even really fly, they just get blown along in the wind really.

Id say go for it, plant anything and see what happens. The best way to learn is from experience.
If you search "companion planting" on google you should find some useful information to help you grow become more successful. The idea of companion planting is that some plants grow well in the presence of others (but may grow bad in presence of some plants).

E.g of bad companion planting....It is said not to plant tomatoes with potatoes as they are in the same family and if one crop gets infected or diseased, this can easily spread to the other.

E.g. of good complanion planting....Plant marigolds with tomatoes to stop tomato pests (the smell deters them). Likewise planting some strong smelling herbs like lavander near crops deters pests as it messes with their senses.

As for garlic, thatl grow fine, it takes care of itself.

Best of luck!
Ciaran

monosharp

Hey guys.

So I made a little picture for you

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28484889@N02/3725638130/

Could you give me advice on what to plant/what I could plant ?

Oh and I'm not in Ireland, I'm in Korea so the summers are very humid/hot/sunny. The location gets pretty strong sunshine (South France style) until maybe midday and then its in the shade. So maybe 4-5 hours of direct sunlight.

Also, what kind of yield can I expect from this kind of area ? And from potatoes/tomatoes ?

How do I harvest potatoes without killing the plant ?

keiran110

Its not really possible to harvest the potatoes without killing the plant. The part of the potatoe you eat is actually a type of root called a tuber. Its very similar to eating a carrot, the actually carrot you eat is the root of the plant.

So essentially since you are going to be pulling the root of the plant off, its unlikely it will survive. The actually potatoe that you eat stays living for months though if kept properally and you`l see all the runners coming off it.

Both potatoes and tomatoes need a lot of room to grow so you may not get that much in the space you have. Each plant needs to be well spaced from each other

bertie1

Stawberries do very well in containers or barrells , just put holes down along the barrel for more plants